In three separate procedures, Dr. Shishehbor used a balloon embedded with a wire that cuts through calcified plaque and implanted two stents to prop open a small artery in Mr. Swartz's foot.

WSJ: New Tactics to Treat Artery Disease That Harms Legs

They ended up producing a flexible catheter tube that goes a bit of the way up the nostrils, then a guide wire is inserted into the targeted sinus. (In live patients this is done via an endoscope and fluoroscope.) A balloon catheter is advanced over the guide wire and positioned against the blocked ostium.

FORBES: Balloon Therapy

Some patients were treated with angioplasty, a procedure in which an artery is opened with a balloon and then propped with a stent--a wire mesh tube.

FORBES: Magazine Article